Gang of Four

Gang of Four, clique of radical advocates of Mao Zedong who implemented the most extreme policies of China’s Cultural Revolution during the 1960s and 1970s.

The group consisted of Jiang Qing (Mao’s third wife), Wang Hongwen, Zhang Chunqiao, and Yao Wenyuan. All held only inconsequential political power prior to 1966 when the Cultural Revolution began. Zhang and Yao were minor propaganda officials in Shanghai. Wang, who had been employed in a Shanghai textile mill, emerged as a workers’ leader. A former actor, Jiang held no official political office in Beijing but was engaged in “cultural criticism,” which involved examining plays, literature, and other works of art to determine if their political message was appropriate.

In the 1960s Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping emerged as pragmatic leaders after the disastrous failure of Mao’s radical economic program, the Great Leap Forward. Mao, worried that the policies of Deng and Liu betrayed his vision of socialism, launched the Cultural Revolution in 1966 to purge his perceived opponents. The members of the Gang of Four emerged as Mao’s principal supporters in the campaign and were rewarded with increased power. By 1969 all were members of the ruling Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Jiang was especially valuable to Mao as a trustworthy ally against the moderates.

The Gang of Four first began to act collectively in 1965 when Yao published an attack on a play by Wu Han that Jiang was investigating for promoting counterrevolutionary ideas. The incident was one of the triggers for the Cultural Revolution. Zhang acted as vice-chairman of the Cultural Revolution Group and took over Shanghai in 1967 when events there developed into anarchy. With Mao’s support, the group developed a series of political campaigns targeting party officials, teachers, doctors, and anyone with status or skills viewed by the group as elitist. Red Guards, the militant students supportive of Mao, assisted in carrying out the policies.

At the Tenth Party Congress in 1973, Wang emerged as heir apparent to Mao and first premier Zhou Enlai. At the same congress Deng and other moderates, who had been purged by the Gang of Four, rejoined the CCP’s Central Committee. After Zhou’s death on January 8, 1976, spontaneous demonstrations supporting the moderates developed in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square. On Jiang’s orders police cleared away the demonstrations and Deng was purged once again. Mao’s death on September 9, 1976, however, removed the Gang’s main source of power. They were arrested and charged with various crimes, including treason and forgery of Mao’s instructions. Cartoons and other attacks vilifying them spread in the media and the term Gang of Four was adopted.

When on trial in 1980, Jiang insisted that she had simply carried out Mao’s orders. She and Zhang were sentenced to death, although the sentences were commuted to life imprisonment. Wang was imprisoned for life. Yao, who was imprisoned for 20 years, was released in 1996. Jiang reportedly committed suicide in prison on May 14, 1991.